Simulacrum
by VTPM
Summary: [Obito/Kakashi-centric - Based on Road to Ninja movie - Warnings for stupid humor, most likely inconsistencies with anime, and probable darker themes later on - Better summary inside] Obito decides to have another practice run with the Infinite Tsukuyomi with Kakashi as the "foreign object", but makes the shameful mistake of catching himself in the Genjutsu World as well.
1. Prologue

Summary: [Obito/Kakashi-centric | Based on Road to Ninja movie | Warnings for stupid humor, most likely inconsistencies with anime, and probable darker themes later on] Obito still doesn't trust Madara's word to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi for the benefits of everyone, so he decides to try another practice run with the Limited Tsukuyomi to ensure he can properly launch the jutsu himself while using Kakashi as the test subject. However, things don't go quite according to plan when, Uchiha failure that he is, Obito catches himself in his own Genjutsu..

A/N: So this is something I've been wanting to write something like this for several weeks now [I've finally watched the Road to Ninja movie, highly recommend to watch it before reading this just to make things a bit more comprehensible], and I just wanted to say I know that movie is said to take place sometime around episode 270 or so, but I've moved it just a tiny bit back for finding an understandable place in the anime to put this story for my own plot convenience. Essentially I have this set the night after the Third Division fights the Reanimated Swordsmen, and Kakashi fights Zabuza and Haku [about episode 266] and after Obito had summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path at the First Division, as well as he'd already made his Six Paths of Pain, but before he had gone to join the battle against Naruto and Killer Bee. Instead, he has left the Jinchuuriki to guard the Demonic Statue over night while he Kamui's on over to the Third Division where this story starts off. [The events of the Road to Ninja movie have also already taken place, obviously]

Also, this is mostly just a comedic story for the sake of messing around with the Limited Tsukuyomi, so I haven't put too much forethought into the changes this story's events will have on the rest of the anime events, so apology ahead of time for any plot holes/inconsistencies this may have with the anime; either try to ignore it or kindly point it out to me if it's anything major, so I can take it into consideration for changes or not. Like I said, this isn't really intended to be taken too seriously, it's just for my own entertainment and for anyone else who may find enjoyment in it as well. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

He was no stranger to sleepless nights; stress and nightmares often finding one way or another to leave him in a state of unrest. He'd mostly been able to escape the lack of sleep for a while now, but with the threat of the Reanimations overhead, it had made itself an issue again. The others in the Third Division were fast asleep at the moment, weary from the day's battle against the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and he'd volunteered to keep watch in case their small camp was found.

Everything was silent in the forest, eerily so; the day's earlier battle likely having drove all the wildlife away or into hiding. The only sound was the faint rustle of leaves when the breeze picked up a bit.

His gaze swept around the trees surrounding the clearing mechanically, searching for any movement or foreign chakra in the shadows, made all the darker when contrasted with the nearly blinding light of the almost-full moon looming above. It was impossible to see into the shade clinging to the branches and canopy, not without his Sharingan, but he'd been using it too much today and he was exhausted enough as it was.

Kakashi stiffened when he heard a louder disturbance behind him, and he jumped to his feet, jerking his gaze up to the higher branches for the cause, but saw nothing among the foliage. He couldn't sense any chakra nearby, but the noise had been far too close for comfort and he wasn't about ignore it without making sure there wasn't any immediate threat.

Silently, he leaped up onto a tree branch above him and peered into the gloom ahead, searching for any signs of life, whether human or animal, but nothing was catching his attention. He was about to lift his hitai-ate off his Sharingan to scan the intertwining branches better, but the fluttering of leaves a bit further away on his right caught his attention, and he immediately gave chase.

* * *

It was a lot easier than he'd been expecting; he'd have thought the Hatake would show more caution, but perhaps exhaustion had impaired his judgment more than he'd been prepared for, or he'd wanted to keep his squadron out of harm's way. Maybe he'd just underestimated what the possible threat was. Whatever the case, it was working out in his favor, so he couldn't complain.

It didn't take long to reach the small clearing he'd picked out a while earlier, and he found a spot among the dappled shadows of an oak to take cover in while waiting for the jounin to catch up.

He almost didn't even notice when Kakashi landed in the tree next to the clearing a few moments later; he was entirely silent and didn't disturb a single leaf around him, his flak jacket blended in with canopy, and his hair could be easily mistaken for a splotch of silvery moonlight on the tree bark. If it weren't for his eyes and Kakashi's familiar chakra, Obito likely wouldn't have seen him at all.

Kakashi glanced quickly around the clearing, tensing when Obito stepped out of the underbrush, his visible eye narrowing into a cautious glare as he shifted into a defensive stance.

Obito couldn't help but smirk; obviously the Hatake was regretting letting himself be led so far from his Division right now, even if he wouldn't express it outwardly. He tilted his head back enough to look up at the moon hovering in the middle of the opening in the leaves above, relieved there were no clouds to be seen. If there had been an overcast, that would have thrown everything off, and he knew he likely wouldn't get another chance. He had to make this count, and get as much out of it as he could.

"What are you doing here, Madara?" Kakashi broke the silence first, the tension in his voice impossible to miss. He at least had the common sense to be anxious of the fact he wasn't ready for a fight, pride and appearances be damned.

He lowered his gaze back to Kakashi, and didn't respond immediately. Instead, he reached into his cloak and withdrew a clear crystal sphere, rotating it in his hand absently and ignoring the sudden intensity in the Konoha nin's glare.

"Relax Kakashi, I'm not here for a fight."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm not obligated to," he replied matter-of-factly, turning his attention back to the sphere in his hand.

Kakashi scowled, following his gaze to the peculiar object, and decided to try his luck again. "What is that for?"

Obito rolled his eyes in exasperation, and muttered under his breath, "Impatient as always.." Louder, he added, "Why don't you see for yourself?" Without waiting for him to react, Obito tossed the sphere up into the sky, where it suspended in mid-air in line with the moon. Kakashi followed it's ascent closely, simultaneously pulling a kunai from his pouch and, in one fluid motion, threw it with precision accuracy at the orb.

The Uchiha stiffened in surprise; he hadn't expected Kakashi to choose _that_ reaction so quickly. There might not be enough time for the Limited Tsukuyomi to activate itself before the kunai struck it.

Which meant this would all be wasted and he'd never get the chance again.

Meaning he couldn't work out the minor bugs of the Infinite Tsukuyomi and might screw it up, or that he'd have to leave it in Madara's hands, which was less than desirable, to say the least.

He lifted his gaze to the kunai, which was only _inches_ from the sphere now, and activated Kamui, transporting the blade away just barely in time. Not even a full second later, the sphere emitted a blindly white light that bathed the entire clearing, to Obito's relief. _It had worked_. But damn, was it obnoxiously bright. He didn't remember being subjected to the irritating glow last time..

Cold dread settled in the put of his stomach. He hadn't used Kamui to escape it like he had last time, thanks to having to stop the kunai.

He was still looking at the sphere, too.

 _Aw, fuck_..


	2. Chapter 1

Nothing seemed to have really happened. After a few moments, Kakashi eased his eye open, slowly lowering his arms he'd used to shield himself from the intense glare of the orb. He was still standing in the same tree as before, and he looked down at the other masked man for an answer but, judging from look in his eyes, he honestly seemed just as shocked and confused as he felt.

Several seconds passed in awkward silence before Madara regained his composure, though instead of explaining what the hell just happened like Kakashi would have preferred, he vanished in a swirl of black, leaving no trace of anything that had just transpired. If it weren't for the lingering splotches in front of his vision, Kakashi wouldn't be entirely convinced it even had taken place.

Shaking his head to clear it, he turned away from the clearing and started back toward the camp, hoping the Reanimations hadn't returned while he was gone. It had only been a few minutes, and he wasn't far away, so if there was any fighting, he should be able to hear it. But the forest still appeared to be in a temporary tranquil state, though it was noisier than it had been. There were echoes of bird calls and the sound of paws skittering on the forest floor below. It seemed the wildlife had suddenly returned, which was odd, and it set him on edge.

When Kakashi reached the small glade that the camp had been hidden in, he was alarmed to see it was empty. There were no supplies left behind or any sign of a struggle, which was comforting in a way. He thought maybe they'd been forced to retreat, but when he looked closer, the grass hadn't been flattened at all. Enough time hadn't passed for it have recovered from a whole squadron [or what was left of it, anyways] being stationed here for a few hours. He _knew_ this had to be the right place, but it appeared no one had been here in weeks, if not longer.

He lifted his hitai-ate off his Sharingan and scanned the forest, but he found no sign of human life nor the destruction from the day's battle. Kakashi covered his left eye again and frowned. _Now what..?_

Obviously there was nothing left here he could do, and if the Third Division and their battle hadn't happened, it was unlikely he would find anything at the other Divisions either. All that was left then was to return to Konoha and keep lookout for anyone else along the way.

Having made up his mind, he turned in the direction of the village and took off through the trees, praying he wasn't mistakenly leaving his squad behind with the enemy.

* * *

 _Everything is fine,_ he told himself, pacing the square, stone structure in poorly hidden aggravation. Okay, so _maybe_ he made the most _ridiculous_ mistake any Uchiha had _ever_ made in the _history of shinobi_. And _maybe_ he was now trapped in a Genjutsu in the middle of a _very_ important part of the war. And just _maybe_ Madara was going to absolutely _kill him_ if he ever found out about this. But it was all _fine_. The Limited Tsukuyomi had still been launched, and despite being caught in it, he was still recognized as the caster as well, and the glass sphere was still in his possession. It just meant he had a physical body and couldn't possess people, that's all. He still had control of the jutsu and could end it any time he wanted. That was a slight comfort.

Now that that potential meltdown had been avoided, Obito supposed he should be checking to see what distortions his and Kakashi's presence had caused to this world. Hopefully there wasn't as many changes as there was last time.

He teleported out of Kamui to the Moutain's Graveyard, figuring that would be the best place to start his search. After arriving in an empty cavern, he quickly scanned the nearby tunnels and chambers, frowning when he couldn't pick up any chakra signatures.

 _That's odd.. Kabuto should still be here, shouldn't he..?_

Obito shrugged it off. It wasn't a big deal or anything.

He wandered further into the mine, navigating purely from memory through the pitch black tunnels until he reached one of the lowest hollows. He still couldn't see a thing, and it seemed the torches he'd placed on the walls had vanished from existence. Even when focusing directly on the opposite wall, he couldn't sense any of the Sharingan he'd kept stored in the lab. His eyes narrowed as the pieces started falling into place.

 _It seems like I've never been here, and Kabuto and the Zetsu clones are missing as well.. The Fourth War must not be in motion, at least not yet._. _Maybe Akatsuki hasn't made any moves yet either_..

With that thought in mind, Obito used Kamui to transport himself to Amegakure, just outside he tower Pein had chosen for headquarters. The village itself seemed pretty normal, if not more crowded and lively than usual; people were bustling around the streets in their raincoats, visiting various shops and food stands, or just chattering in groups. Upon closer inspection, quite a number of the shinobi were wearing hitai-ates from different villages. He easily recognized Leaf, Sand, Waterfall, and Grass among the travelers, as well as a few Cloud and Stone, and they seemed to be actual ninja, not just merchants. Normally Ame was fairly closed off to the other villages, specifically Konoha, so seeing so many of the various villages gathered here _peacefully_ was a little strange.

Obito decided to shove that thought to the back of his mind for later speculation and approached the front of the tower, noting no one was guarding the entrance.

He opened the door, and was taken aback by the florescent lights that practically slammed into his corneas as he stepped inside, blinking a couple times to adjust to the glare. The lobby was usually dark and abandoned, now looking like a well-lived-in reception area with a _cheery_ atmosphere. There was even a desk off to the right side of the room with a receptionist, who looked up at his entrance and gave him a small smile before returning to her paper work.

Deciding not to bother asking any questions that might make him see out of place, Obito walked past her to the stairs, though the next floor only served to confuse him even more. It was just as brightly lit as the lobby with pure white walls and was divided into many smaller rooms that were labeled by number. One of the doors opened and a medic nin stepped out, closing the door behind herself before walking down the hallway and entering one of the other rooms.

 _A hospital, in here..?_

The next few floors also appeared to have nothing but hospital rooms, but at the eleventh flight it seemed to have suddenly changed over to common rooms and dorm-like bedrooms that were a bit more familiar, as they looked like the rooms the Akatsuki members used when they were off-duty, except there was now a lot more floors of them and they were occupied by people he couldn't recognize, though the fact they wore clothes and headbands of all different villages wasn't lost on him.

Only once he'd reached the eighteenth floor did he finally see a familiar face. He opened the door to a living room area, and was surprised to see Deidara and Sasori occupying one of the couches there. Apparently Akatsuki was still here after all, though there was definitely something different happening.

Obito closed the door to the stairwell and entered the common room; Sasori seemed too occupied with whatever he was fiddling with to notice him, but Deidara looked up and gave him an odd look. Before he had the chance to question the blonde about it though, Konan strode into the room, fixing Obito with a glare. "Where the hell have you been?"

He wasn't sure what the appropriate answer would be, so he settled for staring at her blankly.

The kunoichi scowled and crossed her arms. "I asked you a _question_."

"I was out," he replied evenly, doing his best not to portray any emotion. He wasn't even sure what personality to be acting out at this point, and no one had given him any hints so far.

Konan just rolled her eyes in exasperation, turning on her heel and storming out of the room, muttering something under her breath about Uchihas.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Deidara pointed at him and asked, "What's with the mask, yeah?"

Obito frowned. "It's a battle mask."

That didn't seem to be a satisfactory answer. "And?" When he didn't get a response, he huffed moodily. "It looks dumb, un. Don't you think so Sasori?"

Sasori glanced up for a moment and shrugged, looking back at whatever object was in his hand. "I don't know; I stopped questioning Uchiha fashion trends a while ago."

Ignoring the artists' jibes, he asked casually, "What's gotten under Konan's skin?"

Deidara snorted, twirling a strand of hair around his forefinger absently. "Are you kidding? She's always like that.. Always being bossy and-" He was interrupted by a loud _crack_ that made him jump in his seat in alarm, and Obito even tensed, ready to activate Kamui if necessary, though he relaxed a second later when Sasori burst out in a fit of giggles and the Iwa nin shot him a furious look. "Damnit Sasori! I _thought_ I told you to stop setting firecrackers off indoors! You know I hate them!"

The red head didn't look bothered by his partner's glare, managing to stutter out between snickers, "Every time! It gets you every time!"

Deidara growled and turned back to the Uchiha. "Obito, tell him to take his stupid bombs outside, un!"

For once, Obito found himself at a loss for words. He wasn't sure what was more of a shock; a Deidara who hates explosives, or the fact his identity seemed to be common knowledge in Akatsuki.

Luckily, he was saved from having to say anything, as the two had gotten into an argument that he couldn't be bothered to follow, so instead he used the opportunity to slip out of the room to the corridor Konan had used to leave, which led to the bed rooms. After a quick scan of the name plates along the hall, he found the room that was supposedly his and he quickly ducked inside. Locking the door behind himself, he took a few moments to collect his thoughts. So much for his presence not causing many distortions.. All of Akatsuki, and Ame for that matter, seemed to have changed drastically. Not to mention there was absolutely no sign of the Fourth Shinobi War.  
 _  
What exactly is going on around here..?_


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I've been meaning to update for a while, but I've been busy with school and other projects, I haven't been able to get to this in a while. I'll try to update more often if I have time, but I can't make any promises. Anyhoo, this chapter's probably mostly fluff/filler, but I'll try to have more going on in the next chapter. Also, on one final note, I changed this story's title from Synthetic Hope to Simulacrum since the former title was kind of a last minute decision when I couldn't think of anything better to name this, but I think Simulacrum is much more fitting for the plot/theme of the story. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Light filtered weakly through the gaps in the canopy over Kakashi's head as he neared Konoha's front gates, the sun not quite yet rising over tree tops and casting a pink hue over the cloudless sky. Birds chirped loudly all around, just waking from their nests.

The village seemed to be rousing as well; he could already hear the movement and chatter of the civilians as they set about starting their day and opening their shops.

Which was all fine and good, had there not been a _war_ on the horizon, not to mention the fact Konoha shouldn't even be _standing_ at the moment. The last he'd seen of the Leaf, it was still struggling to rebuild from Pein's assault, but now it looked as if the attack had never even happened.

Kakashi finally reached the gates, and decided trying to get some answers from the guards might be helpful in figuring out what the _hell_ was going on.

Izumo and Kotetsu looked up from their game of checkers as the jounin approached them, and the former asked, "Hey Kakashi, what are you doing out so early? I don't remember seeing you leave.."

Deciding the best way to get around the situation was playing the innocent card, he shrugged and replied vaguely, "I just thought a walk would be a nice way to clear some thoughts."

The two chuunin exchanged glances, but decided not to press the matter too much. The Hatake always was just a _little_ odd like that.. Instead, Kotetsu gave a lazy smirk and pointed to his hitai-ate. "What happened to your headband? You misplace it again?"

It took Kakashi a moment to remember he was wearing the Shinobi Alliance hitai-ate now, and not his usual Leaf one, though luckily they took his blank look as stoic agreement, and Izumo sighed, "Honestly, you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to you.."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck in feigned embarrassment and gave an uncommitted chuckle. "Ah, I guess I would.. I'm sure it'll turn up sooner or later though. Oh, by the way, I was meaning to ask if you'd seen anything odd lately, per chance..?"

Izumo shook his head without even thinking about it. "Every night has been quiet for as long as I can remember for a while now. Nothing really interesting ever happens around here." That was when Kotetsu added, "Well, other than that one guy that tried to sneak in a couple weeks back.."

The way the statement trailed off sounded a little too ominous for his liking, and Kakashi's attention was quickly piqued. "What happened?"

Izumo just snorted and rolled his eyes in amusement. "Some low-class, petty thief with grand dreams of robbing the Hokage Mansion. He never made it five feet past the gate~"

He nodded and hummed in response to hide his disappointment. Not the great reveal of information he'd been hoping for, but..

"Speaking of the Hokage, I think he was looking for you the other day, whenever you were out.. You should probably stop by his office first thing for making him wait so long," Izumo continued. "I don't know if it was anything too important, but still.."

"Ah, right. I guess I must have lost track of time while I was out there.." Sure, he had a habit of being late and forgetting the time a lot [usually on purpose], but he was a little worried saying he hadn't noticed a whole night had passed while he was out would raise some alarm.

Apparently it didn't. The gate keepers just said their farewells and waved as he strolled into the village with his hands in his pockets, the perfect depiction of casual. But that was only on the outside. Inside, there was an absolute riot as his eyes were locked onto the Hokage Monument. Tsunade's face was missing from it. Which only meant one thing.

It took every fiber of his being to not jump to the roof tops and run to the Hokage's office; he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Having to walk slowly through the streets like a normal person, like everything was completely _fine_ and _not the opposite of how it should be_ , it was painful. All of his instincts and alarms were screaming like it was the end of the world. It probably was.

He ignored everything and everyone the entire walk, navigating the streets on autopilot as he stretched his senses as far as he could into his surroundings. He couldn't detect any hidden enemies; no Akatsuki, no Reanimations, nothing. He tried dispelling the illusion from himself, but there was no change. He even risked lifting his headband slightly off his left eye as he pretended to scratch his hair, but even the Sharingan couldn't detect any sign of Genjutsu. Everything felt entirely _real_.

Finally he reached the Hokage Mansion and headed up to the second floor to the office, briskly making his way down the curved hallway to the large wooden doors. He took a steadying breath before knocking.

The voice that replied with "Come in" was muffled, but still distinguishable enough for Kakashi to recognize it, and his pulse quickened as he opened the door before practically stopping altogether. Sure, he'd already known and seen it coming, and had heard his voice, but actually _seeing_ his sensei sitting behind the desk with his azure blue eyes and kind smile was enough to send his whirling mind to an abrupt halt. He had to remind himself to breathe and stop just staring at Minato from the doorway when the blonde have him a questioning look.

"Are you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost," Minato said lightly in an attempt to break the awkward atmosphere.

"You have no idea," Kakashi wasn't sure what else to say, and luckily it just came off as humor.

"Really though, you look pretty shaken. Did something happen? No one could find you in the village last evening, and I was getting worried.."

The Hatake quickly shook his head. "No, I'm fine, it's just.." What should he say? What _could_ he say without looking like a complete lunatic? Obviously nothing he knew applied to wherever this place was, and anything he said wouldn't make any sense to Minato. Might as well stick to his story for the time being. "I took a walk yesterday and lost track of time; I guess I fell asleep, and I woke up feeling a little out of it today. I'm sure I'll be feeling fine again once I've gotten some better rest."

Minato still looked concerned for a moment, but then nodded and smiled in relief. "Well, as long as you're sure. Anyways, now that that's cleared up, I was meaning to talk to you about Naruto.."

Kakashi couldn't help the immediate apprehension he felt. He'd become so used to hearing only bad things happening to or around his student that it was just second nature to assume the worst. "What about him?"

The Namikaze looked a little uncomfortable for a moment, then sighed resignedly. "To be completely honest with you, I'm worried about him. His teamwork has definitely been suffering in his latest missions; more than usual, anyways.. I was hoping you could try helping him with that.."

He was a little surprised, to say the least. Working with comrades was what Kakashi considered one of Naruto's strong suits, with a few exceptions of certain scenerios and people [he always did get in arguments with Sasuke and Kiba, and he had a habit of upsetting Shino on every mission they were on together], he didn't see how it could be a such a big issue and for so many missions in a row.

"I'll see what I can do, but what exactly seems to be the problem..?"

Minato slumped back in his chair and looked like he'd just turned a few of his hairs white just at the thought of it. "What _isn't_ the problem? You know how he is.. He can't agree with anyone, he disobeys every order he's given, he's always going of on his own in enemy territory.. The list goes on! Kushina's tried talking to him about it, and so have I, but he never listens to us.. I'm not sure what else I can do other than hope you can have better luck with him.."

That wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear at all. He thought it would just be personality clashes with a few people, not general inability to work with anyone. He felt like they weren't even talking about the same person.

But they weren't, were they? Nothing here was the same; whatever that sphere Madara had used was, it couldn't have changed _everything_. It hadn't reached that far, and he seemed to have wanted to use it specifically on _him_. So the Genjutsu had effected only him, not everyone else around him. Not to mention, for the Sharingan to not detect anything wrong, the Genjutsu must either be of an impossibly high level, or of a different function compared to normal jutsu of its type. The latter seemed like the more likely option. So if he was the only one who hadn't changed, then it must have done something entirely different from what he originally assumed. As outlandish as it might sound out loud, he found the only reasonable conclusion to be that he wasn't even in the same reality as he had been before. That was the only way it made sense that a change had been made to him in a way that everything else around him had changed. He'd been displaced to a different reality altogether.

But why? What good did moving a single person into another world serve _Madara_? Sure, he was one of Konoha's most powerful jounin, but he knew he didn't stand much of a chance against the legendary Uchiha, at least in a one-on-one fight. Why not just move the entire Third Division into this world? That would make a truly notable difference to the tide of the war.

Before he could consider it any longer, he was broken from his thoughts when Minato cleared his throat to break the sudden awkward silence and gestured weakly to the stacks of paper surrounding his desk. "Well, I guess I should be getting to work on these.. Thanks again for your help, Kakashi. I really appreciate it."

"Right. It's my pleasure, sensei. I'll do what I can," he replied, bowing and leaving the room. He closed the heavy doors behind himself and started down the hallway, his thoughts immediately buzzing away again. He'd managed to decipher a little bit about his situation, but not enough to be truly helpful. He still had no idea how to escape, or why he was there, or anything, really. And more than likely, no one else here was even capable of helping him figure it out without assuming he'd finally snapped before he could even finish explaining. Only Madara would have the answers he needed, and that didn't do him any good whatsoever.

 _I guess I'll just have to play along with everyone for now and see if I can figure out anything else in the meantime.._ Kakashi's anxiety only rose at that thought. He couldn't afford to be wasting time like this; his students, his friends, his Division, his village, his _entire_ _world_ , they _needed_ him right now, and he _wasn't_ _there_.

 _Everyone, please hold on.. I'll be back as soon as I can.._


	4. Chapter 3

Nothing that happened in this world mattered; it was really just a matter of fitting in and observing until something interesting happened. It was with that thought in mind that Obito used Kamui to make a small hole in the floorboards beneath one of the dressers in his room that he could safely store the glass sphere in. It was impossible to see without moving the entire piece of furniture, and it was unlikely anyone would do that unless they knew what they were looking for. On top of that, even if it was found, no one would know what it was or how to use it anyways, so he wasn't too concerned. He knew storing it in Kamui might be the overall safer option, but if his identity was known here, then there was a strong chance his abilities were as well, and if anyone were to look for it, they'd probably assume it would be hidden in his own dimension. Who in their right mind would hide something so important in such a basic hiding place when they have access to such a jutsu? He couldn't risk anyone he needed to pull into Kamui finding it, especially if Kakashi could find a way to use his left eye to enter the other dimension. As unorthodox as the method was, under the dresser would be the least expected place to look.

He decided to leave his mask behind too, since it only appeared to make him stand out more in this reality anyway. It was nothing more than a hindrance here.

When Obito returned to the lounge room, he found Deidara and Sasori were still there, and they were continuing to bicker over trivial matters that he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to for more than a second, though Kisame had joined them on one of the side chairs and was listening to the argument in vague amusement. In the adjoining kitchen, Obito was surprised to see Nagato and Yahiko quietly discussing something between themselves.

Opting to join the Ame shinobi over listening to the artists' bitching, Obito wandered into the kitchen and took a seat near them at the table. They both looked up simultaneously as he approached, so he didn't hear what they'd been talking about previously, but Yahiko grinned and said, "Where have you been? You disappeared out of the blue yesterday without saying anything. What's up with that?"

He was already regretting not choosing to mock the art duo with Kisame. Sigh.. "Does it really matter?"

Yahiko just shrugged. "Not really. I couldn't care less, but you know how Konan gets about people leaving without permission.."

"I'll keep that in mind," he mumbled, glancing over toward the entryway as Itachi silently shuffled into the room and headed straight for the stovetop to begin making tea without any acknowledgment to the other three in the room.

"Speaking of which, it's been a while since I last saw you too, Itachi. Can't be bothered to leave your room and say hi to us every once in a while?" Yahiko asked teasingly.

"Hn," was the only response Itachi seemed willing to give, finding watching his kettle much more interesting than Yahiko's attempts at conversation.

 _Well, at least these three seem normal enough so far._. Obito thought, looking over at Nagato who hadn't said anything yet, and was watching the exchange through the part in his hair before he noticed the Uchiha was observing him and blinked curiously.

It was a good thing Kisame walked in at that moment to see what Itachi was up to, and provided a great distraction so Obito didn't have to bother explaining himself to the Uzumaki.

The Kiri-nin grinned and jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the lounge room. "Those two are real cards, aren't they?"

The once-civil disagreement between the artists seemed to have developed into a yelling match over the past few minutes, and they were now clearly audible in the kitchen.

Yahiko snorted. "More like headaches."

Obito was inclined to agree with him.

Itachi's water started boiling then, and he deftly poured the steaming liquid into a mug Obito didn't remember seeing him grab, then retrieved a spoon and teabag before turning neatly on his heel and striding from the room, Kisame following in his shadow.

The Genjutsu user was the same social recluse he'd always been, and Kisame still followed his lead while mocking the other Akatsuki when the opportunity presented itself. Yeah, they seemed to be pretty normal.

There was a loud crack from the lounge room then, followed by the sound of a rather unmanly scream and Sasori's uncharacteristic gleeful cackles, and not a heartbeat later Deidara stormed passed the kitchen looking rather embarrassed. "Don't say anything, yeah," he growled on his way to the door, though it lacked any real threat behind it. The slamming of the door behind him was much more forceful. Yahiko couldn't even be bothered to hide his amusement, but he at least had the decency to not laugh out loud until the blonde was out of earshot. Nagato still didn't give any reaction; apparently he was just desensitized to these sort of things by now.

All of which was fine, but so far he wasn't learning anything useful about what exactly this Akatsuki's goals were, or any of the important changes that had been made to this world. It would be great if he could just flat out ask what he wanted to know, but this situation required a little more finesse than that. Asking questions that he would be expected to already know the answers to would only raise suspicions and it wouldn't get him anywhere. But did he ever _hate_ having to be patient and wait idly for answers to come to him..

 _What a hassle._.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kakashi had figured he could take a look into the whole 'Naruto situation' Minato had asked him to help with while waiting for opportunities to gather information, and had began his search for the blonde. He started at Ichiraku's, naturally, but he was surprised to find Tenzo there instead when he ducked under the cloth banner.

Teuchi noticed him first and smiled warmly. "Hey Kakashi, what can I get you?"

"Ah, well, I was looking for Naruto, actually.. I was just wondering if he's been around here?"

Tenzo glanced over his shoulder from his own bowl of ramen and snorted. "I'm sure he can manage without you for a little while, can't he? Relax for a bit and have some ramen with me."

Kakashi started to decline, but training with Naruto _could_ wait for a bit, and talking with a familiar jounin, especially a member of the ANBU.. Maybe he could get some answers he was looking for this way.

"Alright," he agreed, taking a seat next to the Wood style user and ordering a bowl of ramen for himself. He didn't have much of an appetite, but thanks to the war, he hadn't ate anything for a while and had mostly expected to be running off of soldier pills, so having some real food didn't seem like something he should be skipping out on when it was readily available.

Once his bowl was set in front of him, he decided to let it cool for a bit while he turned his attention back to Tenzo and asked, "So, how've you been?" It was open ended, and wouldn't seem too specific or pushy, but maybe he could get Tenzo to let slip something about any current important missions or other affairs Konoha was a part of.

Tenzo shrugged, taking another mouthful of his ramen before replying, "Same as usual, other than the mission coming up, but we've had worse."

Getting a sinking feeling, Kakashi asked hesitantly, "Oh, uh, remind me what it was again..?"

"Seriously, Kakashi? You've forgotten already? How disgraceful."

The Hatake gave a small laugh and an eye smile. "My bad.."

Sighing, Tenzo shook his head. "Honestly, sometimes I swear your head's full of nothing but feathers.." Kakashi wanted to protest; he wasn't _that_ absentminded, but the other man continued before he had the chance to say anything, "Anyways, you know we can't talk about missions in public. Just remember to show up at the Hokage's office tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Alright, I will."

The brunette picked up his bowl to drink the last of the broth then set it back on the counter top. "Well, I have some preparations and such to take care of, so I'll see you tomorrow then. Good luck with Naruto, by the way." And with that, Tenzo had all but vanished from the restaurant.

Kakashi blinked at his abrupt exit, and the only thing that stopped him from drifting off into his thoughts to start wondering about what mission they had was Teuchi saying, "Naruto was here earlier with Sakura, but they left a little while ago to go to the training grounds. Oh," the older man glanced over to where Tenzo's bowl was still sitting on the table. "It looks like he forgot to pay.."

After a quick check that confirmed there indeed wasn't any payment left and that he was the only person left in the shop, Kakashi sighed and reached for his coin purse. "I'll cover it." _I can't believe Tenzo ran out like that and left me with his bill.._

Though really, it wasn't like he had any right to be offended. He'd lost track of how many times he'd left Tenzo with his checks or manipulated him some other way to pay for his food. Kakashi just had a thing that he hated spending money, especially on basic living necessities like food [he had nothing against shelling out for Jiraiya's books though, that was something he was adamant about]. So if he could get someone else to pay for him, he wasn't above conning them into it, and it just happened to be poor, innocent, polite Tenzo who was the unfortunate soul that fell for it every time. He knew it drove the poor guy crazy, and it almost made him feel guilty. Almost. But it was kind of his own fault for not having wisened up to it by now.

Kakashi left Ichiraku's after having paid for both bowls of ramen, leaving his own untouched with an apology to Teuchi. He decided he really didn't feel like eating anything after all, and likely he could always get something else later if he needed to.

He made his way down the streets, doing his best to keep his thoughts from wandering too much; likely he'd just keep raising more questions he had no means of answering yet. He was better off staying focused on his surroundings in hopes of overhearing any conversations that might give him some clues, but he wasn't able to eavesdrop anything worthwhile before he made it to the training grounds.

Whatever he expected to see when he reached his destination, it certainly wasn't this. All members of Teams 7, 8, 10, and even Guy's team were there.

Even Sasuke was among them.

..And he was flirting with Sakura..? Who looked like she was on the verge of punching him into next week..

Kakashi blinked. That was..new.

He noted quite a few other things that seemed rather odd, but before he could register them properly, Sakura noticed his presence and immediately used it as an escape route to get away from Sasuke, leaving the confused Uchiha to stare after her before shrugging the rejection off.

Sakura stopped near his side and greeted him, "Hi Kakashi-sensei. I really hope you're here to train with us.."

"Well, I was here specifically for Naruto, but from what I heard, he needs some help with his teamwork," Kakashi replied, picking out the Uzumaki off to one side of the group with his arms crossed and a moody look about him.

The kunoichi winced a little and nodded, glancing over her shoulder to her teammate as well. "Yeeaahhh, he really does.."

"By the way, with all the others here, aren't any of the other senseis here to help with training or..?"

Sakura huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Really, I think I'm justified to say no. Kurenai and Asuma are out of the village on a mission, and Guy's just over there, but he's too busy moping to be of any use. I spent nearly twenty minutes trying to talk him into training, but he's just impossible to motivate!"

Kakashi looked over to where the pink haired girl had gestured when she mentioned Guy, and sure enough, he was sitting under a tree a few meters away with his knees pulled to his chest and looking genuinely.. Depressed was the only word that came to mind. It was very worrying..

"I see.. Well, I'll be glad to train with you-"

The words had scarcely left his mouth before Sakura turned back towards the others and yelled, "Kakashi-sensei's agreed to help us train!" The others stopped their conversations and looked over in interest, seeming relieved to have an actual teacher to help guide their session.

Kakashi blanched, and stammered, "W-Wait-" He didn't realize he'd been agreeing to train _all_ of them, he'd thought it would only be for Team 7. He didn't really want the responsibility of training the other three teams as well..

Sakura turned back to him at hearing his weak attempt at a protest and raised an eyebrow. "What? You're not up for the challenge?" It sounded like a taunt.

 _Well, I suppose it's a good chance to figure out how these versions are different from the originals I'm used to_.. he thought in an attempt to make playing along with this worth it. _Besides, it would be good teamwork training for Naruto, and that's what I told Minato I'd do_..

Mind made up, Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over the members of all four teams in front of him. "Alright, listen up. Here's what we're going to do.."


	5. Chapter 4

It had seemed like a great idea at first, but now he was having second thoughts. Kakashi had just introduced his idea for training the four teams, and the responses were..varied. Essentially the idea had been to split the students into two teams [Teams 7 and 8 on one and Teams 10 and Guy on the other], then give both of the new teams a bell he used for his bell test. They were to stay in the training grounds area, and they had an hour to protect the bell they had, as well as try to steal the opposing team's bell; the end goal being to have both bells at the end of the time span, or at very least hold on to the bell they had started with. All of this would require coordination, strategy, and, of course, team work. It was foolproof, right?

Naruto was scowling. "So who wins if each team has a bell at the end?"

"It would be a tie, obviously," Chouji replied matter-of-factly. He was actually rather fit and thin looking.

The Uzumaki turned on him at that, not looking any less irate. "Then what's the point if there's no winner?"

Kakashi felt the need to intervene then. "This isn't about who's better than each other; this exercise is for the experience to function as a cohesive unit." When he got no further arguments from the blonde, he turned his attention to the group as a whole. "Is there any other questions?" No one spoke up, so he handed one of the bells to Sakura and the other to Shikamaru, and the two teams moved to opposite sides of the clearing to begin discussing strategies.

Five minutes later, both teams were ready to begin, and Kakashi had found a clock to set to go off once the allotted time was up. "Is everyone ready to begin?"

Hinata cracked her knuckles and gave a rather malicious grin. "Hell yeah we are."

Rock Lee gave a thumbs in response for his teammates.

"Alright. Then..begin!" he said, pressing the start button on clock.

The first second hadn't even fully ticked down before a blur of motion that was Hinata dashed across the clearing toward the other team, sending a ripple of dread through the members of Team 10 and Team Guy, who did their best to get out of her way.

Through the confusion of the team scattering to get away from her, Hinata locked onto Shikamaru, who had been the one she'd seen accept the bell at the beginning, but as she started to charge toward him, she was intercepted by Chouji's expanded hand coming down on the Nara to form a protective dome over him. Hissing in frustration, she turned on the Akamichi instead, chakra flaring up around her hands. "Gentle Fist!"

Chouji's other hand expanded and he drew back the massive fist, throwing a punch toward the kunoichi, but she was quicker and partially flipped mid-air to kick off the hand as it neared her, effectively deflecting herself from its trajectory.

Meanwhile, the rest of her team had rushed in to provide their assistance; Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were facing off against Rock Lee and Neji, Sai and TenTen were locked in their own long range battle, Ino was being targeted down by Sasuke, and Naruto and Sakura were circling around Chouji to help Hinata drive him away from Shikamaru.

Kakashi had made his way over to where Guy was still sitting against the base of a tree and leaned against another tree trunk a couple feet away, taking a moment to look over the usually youthful man to see if anything else seemed different or odd. But as far as he could tell, he was exactly the same other than in demeanor. It was all very perplexing..

Throughout the training exercise, the bells changed hands and teams several times, but as one team lost a bell, they were usually fairly quick to regain one, keeping the scores even up until the last few minutes were on the clock.

Both bells were in the hands of Teams 10 and Guy, one with TenTen and the other with Rock Lee.

Of course, that didn't sit well with ever competitive Hinata, who charged at TenTen with absolute murder in her eyes. For her credit, the weapon's user held her ground for three whole seconds in the face of what Kakashi had decided was perhaps one of the most frightening kunoichi he'd ever seen. But the pure killing intent soon got to her, and TenTen went white as a sheet in the face before throwing the bell to spare herself the inevitable beating that would have come.

The Hyuga followed the arc of the bell with her eyes until it hit the ground, but before she could even move toward it, Sai had darted forward and snatched it up, holding it up with an ecstatic grin. "I got it! Ack-!" he cried triumphantly, only to get tackled to the ground by Neji, who pried the bell from his hand and retreated before Sai could even think to counterattack.

"Idiot! You should have been paying more attention!" Sakura yelled at him while brandishing a fist, receiving only a sheepish laugh in response from the boy laying face first in the dirt.

While attention had been focused on the commotion around Sai and Neji, Sasuke had launched an attack on Rock Lee, aiming a kick for the taijutsu user's head. Rock Lee ducked under the Uchiha's assault and jumped into the air, spinning into a violent whirlwind toward him. "Leaf Hurricane!"

Sasuke turned in time to block the incoming kick with his forearms, and when Rock Lee dropped back to the ground at the loss of momentum, Sasuke lowered his one arm, lightning sparking around his hand.

He waited until the last possible second to dodge out of the way of the Chidori, backing up toward Shikamaru to pass him the bell and whispering something to him before Sasuke had fully turned around to see the pass.

However, Naruto had seen the subtle change of the bell holder, and after Rock Lee was caught up in his match with Sasuke once again, the Uzumaki took the initiative to go after Shikamaru.

The shadow user saw him coming and decided to make a run for it, taking off for the trees at the edge of the clearing and jumping up into the branches with Naruto hot on his heels. Ino and Chouji started to follow to help their teammate, but were intercepted by Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru.

"Alright Akamaru, let's go for a Fang Over Fang!" Kiba commanded, though his ninken didn't seem to like the plan, growling lowly and jerking his head the other way stubbornly. "Oh, come on! Now isn't the time for-" His exasperated lecture was cut off with a sharp yelp when the dog turned and bit his leg in retaliation, which distracted him from the fact that Chouji had darted forward and landed a punch on his face.

Shino distanced himself safely from Kiba's unfortunate situation and muttered, "Your lack of teamwork with your ninken was your downfall. Why? Because-"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Kiba snapped, picking himself up off the ground and rubbing the sore spot on his cheek. "Besides, it's not like you're one to talk, nya.."

The only way to tell that the Aburame was miffed was that his insects had begun to crawl out of his sleeves and buzzed around him, though he soon forgot about his retort to his teammate as he feel into his own brand of panic, jerkily trying to brush the bugs off his skin and away from his face. When that failed, he armed himself with the insecticide gun on his back, spraying all around himself and filling the air with noxious fumes.

Ino and Chouji exchanged a glance and shrugged, deeming Shino to have essentially removed himself as a threat, both turning their focus on Kiba who was attempting to ready himself to fight despite Akamaru's attempts at sabotaging him.

Soon the timer went off, startling Kakashi out of his assessing thoughts on the events of the training exercise. He was pleased with some of their performances, namely Team 10's teamwork, but others.. Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto had all seemed set on their own agenda, not once openly working with anyone else unless their help bettered their own situation. There was definitely a lot of work that needed to be done..

The individual skirmishes broke apart, with everyone separating into their two teams to receive the report on the outcome of the match. At the end of it, the first team had taken control of one of the bells, as Hinata had intimidated it out of Neji, and none of Team Guy had been able to retrieve it from her with Sakura and Sai helping defend her.

As for the other bell.. Shikamaru and Naruto hadn't returned from the surrounding forest yet.

Just as Kakashi was about to send someone out to look for them, Naruto returned to the clearing followed shortly by the Nara, the former looking incredibly irked. Neither of them looked particularly triumphant.

"Well? Who has the bell?" Sakura prompted them.

Naruto scowled. "No one. This moron dropped it and we couldn't find it.." He shot Shikamaru a sullen glare.

He just gave a lopsided grin and scratched the back of his neck. "Oops. My bad.."

Kakashi felt a small flutter of panic in chest. Those bells had a lot of sentimental value to him; he'd hate to lose one of them.. But he pushed it aside for the time being. He would give them his thoughts, dismiss them, and then he could search for it on his own.

He waved a hand dismissively and gave an eye smile. "Don't worry about it; no harm done. More importantly, I think everyone earned a lot of valuable experience from-"

Naruto interrupted him, "Since our team was the only one with a bell, that means we won, right?"

Kakashi hesitated a moment before answering, "W-Well, yes, technically, but that wasn't the point-"

"We could have at least made it a tie if _someone_ wasn't so incompetent," Neji scoffed, sending a pointed look at Shikamaru.

Chouji quickly jumped to his friend's defense. "You're one to talk! You just _gave_ your bell to Hinata at the end there!"

The Hyuga spluttered indignantly, not having a reasonable excuse to defend himself with, then turned his blame on Rock Lee instead. "What were you thinking anyways, passing the bell to him in the first place?"

Rock Lee looked down guiltily. "I am sorry, I did not realize that he would drop it.."

"Guys, please stop arguing..! We're all friends here; can't we just get along..?" Ino spoke up softly, though her voice was lost under the clamor of the others' arguing.

Sakura must have noticed the dismayed look on her sensei's face at how quickly things had deteriorated into absolute chaos, not to mention how upset Ino was, and decided some action was in needed, yelling, "EVERYONE, SHUT UP!"

The noise quickly died down, though a few last dirty looks were exchanged before attention turned toward the kunoichi.

She huffed in exasperation and turned to Kakashi. "They're all yours."

He nodded a little and murmured a quick thanks for her assistance, trying to decide what he even should say at this point. Judging by the hostile atmosphere, likely no one cared about getting any pointers, and the best thing to do would just be to dismiss them and let them cool off.

So he did just that, watching as the more hot tempered students were the quickest to take the opportunity to leave. After a minute, only Sakura, Sai, TenTen, and Guy remained with him in the training fields. Sai was busy mumbling some nonsense to himself that Kakashi wasn't sure how to decipher, Sakura was helping TenTen heal the cuts and scrapes she'd gained during the hour, and Guy seemed to be struggling to find the motivation to stand up.

When all of her injuries were healed, TenTen sighed mournfully. "I was completely useless to my team the whole time.. No wonder we lost.. Why do I even bother..?"

Guy finally spoke up, "That's the spirit, TenTen.. If at first you don't succeed, you should just give up.."

Kakashi's eye widened in shock at the demoralizing statement. "What? No! You shouldn't just give up!" He was a little surprised at the vehemence in his own voice. He was willing to put it down to shock of hearing Guy say such a thing [Even if it is a completely different Guy from the one he knew.].

None of the others seemed very surprised by his outburst though, and Sakura just said dismissively, "Ah, don't take it so personally, Kakashi-sensei. You know how Guy-sensei is.."

He managed to give an uneasy laugh in response. "Aha, right.." Deciding he wanted some time alone to think over what he'd observed of each of the different versions of this reality's people, he added, "I think I'm going to head off now. See ya." After a small wave, he disappeared in a poof of smoke, reappearing not far from the clearing in the cover of the trees, hoping to spend some time searching for the lost bell while he organized his thoughts.

* * *

Orange and navy blue blanketed the sky by the time Kakashi decided to give up his search and head home. He felt incredibly disappointed and anxious, but he'd already wasted so much of the day on what, in the grand scheme of things, was a very trivial task. He'd managed to get his thoughts in order at very least, but now that that task was out of the way, their was no other reasonable excuses to continue the folly. Besides, it would be too dark to see well soon, and he could always continue it later.

Feeling heavyhearted, he left the training grounds and trudged through the streets of Konoha, which were alive with store lights, villagers going about their final bits of business before going home themselves, and couples walking hand in hand in the midst of their dates.

He arrived to an empty apartment that more or less looked the same as the one he had in his own reality, though there were some minor decorations he didn't recognize and picture frames hung on the walls. He didn't look at them too extensively; just noticed a few featuring Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Guy, and Minato and brushed them off as irrelevant for the time being. He was tired and feeling rather down; he just wanted to get to sleep and hope something could be figured out tomorrow to get out of this world [Jutsu?]. The only reason the pictures had caught his attention in the first place was that he never kept any around the apartment in his own dimension, only the two of Team Minato and Team Kakashi by his bed. As much pain as both could bring, they were still too precious to hide away out of sight, and reminded him of a greater number of good memories than harmful ones.

Speaking of which, those two pictures still were by his bedside, and he couldn't help the wave of relief from seeing them, unaltered even despite the distorted, up-side down world around him.

A newfound surge of hope and determination took place of the relief. He would find a way home, end the war plaguing the Allied Shinobi Forces, and protect his loved ones.

Tomorrow would be a better day.


	6. Chapter 5

Blue lightning flashed and crackled in front of him, blood splattered on his face and up his arm, and brown eyes stared seemingly straight into his soul. A small smiled was on Haku's face, the sclera of his eyes changing from white to black each time the light of the electricity momentarily blinded Kakashi.

Grief, guilt, and regret consumed him; he hated knowing he was the killer of such a young boy, one so loyal and caring as to give his life for his master and smile at the end of it all.

[Like Obito smiled at the end.]

He hated the Reanimation Jutsu even more. To disturb the souls of the dead, to make them fight their own comrades, senseis, students, siblings, parents, children, lovers- The fury it made him feel was indescribable.

Kakashi blinked, and while he was still looking back into brown eyes, they were different this time. They were Rin's, and she had an expression terribly full of pain that he couldn't bear to see but couldn't turn away with his arm stuck fast in her chest cavity.

[He felt so fucking useless, seeing her suffering and dying and unable to do anything but watch it happen.]

She must have hated him just as much as he hated himself; her eyes growing cold and harsh as a horrifying sneer took over her unnaturally pale face. There was far too much fury and disgust and blame there.

"You broke your promise," she hissed.

 _I know.._

He can't speak.

 _I'm sorry.._

"You're a liar. You promised him and this is what you do? He died for you! He died for both of us!"

 _Why couldn't you love him instead?_

"You took his eye, and that's how you use it?!"

 _I didn't want this.. I was trying my best.._

"What is wrong with you?!"

 _Everything.._

"He should have left you die!"

 _I wish he had.._

"He would have saved me! He would have been able to stop Sasuke! Everyone would have been so much better off!"

[Tears are falling down his cheeks.]

"Say something, bastard!"

[There's nothing to say. It's all true. All of his most painful insecurities being used against him. He doesn't blame her.]

"Forgive me.."

[It's so selfish of him to ask that. He didn't deserve her forgiveness. He wanted to take it back. He didn't know why he said it in the first place.]

Rin looked even more furious that those were the words he'd chosen when he finally spoke. She snarled, voice turning mocking, "You're such a fucking waste. After we built you up from the nothing you were, you leave us to die and reap the rewards of a life full of friends and loved ones," her tone became cold again. "You're nothing without us."

Didn't she know how guilty he felt for all of that? Doesn't she know he's very aware of what a useless excuse for a human being he is? Wasn't she aware of how grateful he was to them, for paving his path to betterment with their blood and corpses?

"I'm so sorry, Rin.."

"Sorry fixes nothing, Kakashi.. I think you need to pay."

[He knew what was coming next.]

She was always merciless, digging her fingers into his eye socket and plucking out the Sharingan, tearing it away with a sharp jerk of her arm. It hurt hurt hurt so much but he deserved it so it was okay-

Blood mixed with the tears staining his face. Rin looked pleased at the sight of his suffering. She started to say something, but her lips moved silently. Well, it was silent to him, anyways. He was too focused on the Executioner's Blade swinging toward them from behind her to pay attention to what she said. He wanted to warn her, but his voice was paralyzed. He couldn't move, either. He could do nothing but watch in transfixed horror as the Blade moved in to slice them both in half-

Kakashi's eyes shot open to a dark ceiling overhead, not that it registered. It took a few seconds before he could even realize he wasn't breathing. He tried to inhale, but just couldn't get his body to work right. Panicked, he shoved himself upright into a sitting position, finally gasping for air that burned his lungs so wonderfully.

It took a long time for him to regulate his breathing and pulse to a healthy rate, and he glanced over toward the two pictures beside him, not feeling the same comfort in them he had a few hours before. His gaze landed on Rin's smile and a mix of dread and guilt forced him to look away.

He threw off the covers and got out of bed, knowing sleep was no longer an option for him. He might as well find something productive to do with himself instead.

Kakashi remembered he never did end up eating anything yesterday and ended up in front of the stove, absently cooking some eggs for breakfast. Albeit an early breakfast at four in the morning, but breakfast none the less.

Once the food was done, he turned off the burner and served the eggs onto a plate, sitting at the low table in the middle of his tiny kitchen and sighing. He'd just remembered his conversation with Tenzo the other day about the mission they supposedly had. That wasn't exactly something he wanted to waste time on. He'd rather focus trying to figure out what sort of jutsu he was under and how to get out of it. Maybe he could pretend to be sick..?

It was tempting, but at the same time, he knew he probably shouldn't blow it off. It might be important.

Finishing the food didn't take him long; he hadn't felt particularly hungry after the nightmare and hadn't bothered to make much. He still had plenty of time to kill before it would be a reasonable time to show up to Minato's office.

Nothing came to mind that he could do. It was too early to do much of anything outside, and his apartment wasn't inspiring any ideas either.

Well, there was always his failsafe.

Kakashi stood from the table and rinsed off his plate, setting it in the sink and wandering over to the living room, more specifically to the bookshelf in one corner. He scanned the shelf for the familiar orange cover, but was dismayed to see it wasn't among his books. None of the Icha Icha books were, in fact. He sighed miserably. Even reading wasn't an option. So much for today being better.. He slumped back onto the nearby couch. Maybe he should just try to get more rest.. Ha, like that would happen. He forced himself upright and padded to his bedroom, throwing on his jounin uniform before heading for the door. Some training should help clear his mind and burn his anxious energy. He could use a clear head going into whatever mission Minato had set up for him and Tenzo..

* * *

Yesterday had ended rather uneventfully; just more bickering between Deidara and Sasori that had bordered on violent, but that seemed to be a rather common occurrence.

After a sleepless night of immersing himself in his thoughts until a reasonable hour to leave his room, Obito finally wandered out into the living room, surprised to smell food cooking. He hadn't really expected anyone else to be awake yet, except possibly Itachi.

He was even more surprised to find that, when he entered the kitchen, it was Hidan stationed at the stove with a spatula in one hand and donning an apron. The zealot's hair was tied back with a tie instead of its usual slicked-back style and he seemed rather cheery, and not the sort of manic energy he usually had; it was seemingly genuine joviality.

Obito must have spent more time processing the situation than he intended, as Hidan noticed he was there and glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

The Uchiha shook his head, averting his gaze to one side awkwardly. "No, it's nothing. I was just thinking.." It's a lame excuse, but he can't be bothered to come up with anything more convincing. Besides, most things tended to just go over the ex-Yu nin's head, right?

At least that still seemed to be the same about him. Hidan just shrugged, and turned back to the stove top in front of him. "Alright. Just let me know if you're not feeling well, alright?"

"Uh, sure.." he replied uncertainly.

"Feel free to have a seat; breakfast will be done soon," Hidan offered, gesturing to the table without taking his eyes from his work.

Obito nodded a little and decided to go along with it, not having anything better to do anyways, and was saved from any further awkward silence as Deidara stumbled into the room, still looking half asleep and rubbing his eyes.

Hidan beamed as Deidara made his way to the coffee pot and turned it on, filling the kitchen with the sound of coffee beans being grinded to dust. "Good morning~"

The blonde muttered something unintelligible in response, slumping into a chair at the table and letting his head rest on the table, giving a wide yawn.

Hidan switched off the burners and turned around fully for the first time, and Obito easily took note of the lack of that garish rosary he usually wore around his neck. The silver haired man gave the once-artist a worried look. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

Deidara snorted derisively. "Of course not. Sasori kept me up all night talking about his stupid 'pop art'! I really oughta slug him one, un.."

"Well, you should be sure to try and find some time to take a nap later today. Sleep's very important for both your mental and physical health," Hidan suggested.

It was a smaller detail that he'd over looked before, but it drew Obito's attention after observing the man's behavior. There was a small red cross sewn into the sleeves of his outfit under the apron. Which could only mean one thing.

Those were the marks of a member of the medical core.

Obito nearly choked on air. Hidan? A medic? _What the fuck_ -

That was just-

Just _wrong_ -

He was broken from his thoughts when a plate of pancakes and bacon was placed in front of him, and he scowled to himself. Not to mention he acted like a total housewife..

As soon as Hidan had turned his attention elsewhere, Obito stood and slipped from the kitchen, not particularly wanting to eat anything, let alone socialize needlessly. He'd rather use Kamui to scope out the major villages and see the state this world was in.

On his way out of the kitchen and back to his room, he came across Itachi, who just gave him a void stare, apparently waiting for him to get out of the way. Obito obliged, and side stepped to give him room to brush past him and vanish into the kitchen, musing that the fellow Uchiha was perhaps even more standoffish than he usually was.

He quickly forgot about the encounter though as he made it to his room and closed the door behind himself, immediately vanishing into Kamui.

Obito had a feeling he would find something interesting in his search. Only he wasn't sure what it was he was expecting to find, or if that feeling he had was a good or a bad one.


End file.
